Guardians of Language: The Grammarian and Society in Late Antiquity [Reprint 2019 ed.] 9780520342767

Citation preview

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CLASSICAL HERITAGE Peter Brown, General Editor I Art and Ceremony in Late Antiquity by Sabine G. MacCormack II Synesius of Cyrene: Philosopher-Bishop by Jay Bregman III Theodosian Empresses: Women and Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity by Kenneth G. Holum IV John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the Late Fourth C e n t u r y by Robert L Wilken V Biography in Late Antiquity: A Q u e s t for the Holy M a n by Patricia Cox VI Pachomius: T h e Making of a Community in Fourth-Century Egypt by Philip Rousseau VII Change in Byzantine Culture in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries by A. P. Kazhdan and Ann Wharton Epstein VIII Leadership and Community in Late Antique Gaul by Raymond Van Dam

IX Homer the Theologian: Neoplatonist Allegorical Reading and the G r o w t h of the Epic Tradition by Robert Lamberton X Procopius and the Sixth Century by Averil Cameron XI Guardians of Language: T h e Grammarian and Society in Late Antiquity by Robert A. Kaster XII Civic Coins and Civic Politics in the R o m a n East, 180-275 A.D. by Kenneth W. Harl XIII Holy Women of the Syrian O r i e n t Introduced and Translated by Sebastian P. Brock and Susan Ashbrook Harvey XIV Gregory the Great: Perfection in Imperfection by Carole Straw XV Apex Omnium: Religion in the Res gestae of Ammianus by R. L. Rike XVI Dioscorus of Aphrodito: His Work and His World by Leslie S. B. MacCoull

G U A R D I A N S OF LANGUAGE: THE G R A M M A R I A N A N D SOCIETY IN LATE A N T I Q U I T Y

ROBERT A. KASTER

Guardians of Language: The Grammarian and Society in Late Antiquity

U N I V E R S I T Y OF C A L I F O R N I A P R E S S Berkeley • Los Angeles • London

The publication of this book was made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England First paperback printing 1997 ©1988 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Raster, Robert A. Guardians of language. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Classical languages — Grammar — Study and teaching—Rome—History. 2. Education, Ancient 3. Education—Rome—History. 4. Language teachers— Rome. 5. Sociolinguistics—Rome. I. Title, n. Series. PA53.K37 1986 870'.07 85-8593 ISBN 0-520-21225-8 (pbk: alk. paper) Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. ©

PARENTIBVS

OPTIMIS

CONIVGIQVE

CARISSIMAE

CONTENTS

Preface ix Abbreviations xv PART I Prologue: Anazarbus

3 Letters in the World

9

Chapter 1:

T h e Guardian and His Burden

15

Chapter 2:

Professio Litterarum

32

Some Variable Definitions

35

Independence and Constraint

50

Polished Speech, the Common Good, and Christianity

70

Mediocrity Chapter 3: Bordeaux Beyond

T h e Social Status of the Grammarians

97 99

100 106 A Place to Stand

135

Chapter 4:

Pompeius

139

Chapter 5:

Servius

169 Gentlemen and Scholars

Chapter 6:

T h e Social Relations of the Grammarians

vii

199 201

viii

CONTENTS PART II

PROSOPOGRAPHY

231

Grammatici, rpa|i|iaxo8i8aaKciXoi, Magisiri Ludi, and the Like

237

Dubii, Falsi, Varii

380 Appendixes

Appendix 1:

Titles, Styles, Circumlocutions: A Selection

443

Appendix 2:

rpa|i|iaxtaxf| a u v a K p i f k i g xa t t & v t m v fjysv ei KaXeíaSai ao